In a vehicle in which an output power of an internal combustion engine is transmitted to a drive wheel via an automatic transmission and a lockup clutch, there is known a technique of suppressing fuel consumption during a coast running in which a driver does not depress an accelerator pedal by performing so-called a fuel cut, i.e., cutting off fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine.
As a rotation speed of the internal combustion engine decreases during a coast running, fuel supply to the internal combustion engine is resumed from the fuel cut-off, which is hereinafter referred to as a fuel recovery, and the lockup clutch disengages.
At this moment, it is necessary to prevent a timing difference between the fuel recovery and the disengagement of the lockup clutch from generating a torque shock. For this purpose, JP 2006-15819A, published by the Japan Patent Office in 2006, proposes to perform a regenerative braking during fuel recovery.